Fornal had been under fire recently for an expletive-laden tirade that was captured on a state trooper's video recorder. Fornal referred to a man with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder who was a passenger in an accident as a “dumb f---ing retard,” adding, “I wish he would have got hit by a f---ing car on University. That would have been kinda funny.”

Fornal had previously been scrutinized for questionable car stops, including one last May where he claimed he smelled raw marijuana coming from a car he was following at 35 mph with his windows rolled up. No raw marijuana was found in the vehicle.

According to a written statement by sheriff's spokeswoman Wendy Rose, Fornal came into the Sheriff's Office on Wednesday accompanied by a union representative, as part of an internal affairs investigation.

“He was allowed to review the evidence and witness testimony against him. It was at that time that he submitted his resignation,” Rose said in the statement.

The internal affairs investigation will be completed in the next few days, Rose said.

Sarasota attorney AnneMarie Rizzo represented the driver at the crash, during which Fornal's comments were caught on video.

She said his resignation was “maybe in the best interests of everyone involved.”

The former deputy's reputation among the defense bar was not good, she said.

“There were a lot of questions as to the credibility of the allegations he made in the past,” she said. “The State Attorney's Office had to file various motions to try to avoid attacks on his credibility.”

In a separate case involving one of Fornal's arrests, Assistant State Attorney Farral Broeder filed a Motion in Limine — a legal maneuver that asks to court to bar defense attorneys from raising Fornal's past stops or from introducing newspaper accounts of his activities.

“As a former police officer and current DUI defense attorney I find Dominic Fornal's treatment of the civilians that he encountered ghastly,” Daniels said. “His actions both on camera and off certainly were not in line with the ethics and integrity that I have come to expect from the Sarasota County Sheriff's office.”

Daniels said Fornal's resignation was an admission that the latest internal affairs investigation was warranted.

As a result, Daniels said, the public “will not have to endure his disdain towards others and questionable arrests.”